Horrifying Pleasanton campout brings slasher flicks to life

A POINTED COMMENT: When supervillains Freddy (Robert Englund, left) and Jason (Ken Kirzinger) met in "Freddy vs. Jason," it set a box-office record for the "Friday the 13th" series.
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New Line Cinema
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Oh the horror!

Merely white-knuckling your way through one of the 3,426 iterations of "Friday the 13th" just isn't good enough anymore. In today's world of "extreme" entertainment, you can live the nightmare by paying $99 to $139 to have someone scare the wimpy bejeezus right out of you -- though you might want your bejeezus for comfort while huddling in a camp tent anticipating the chainsaw-wielding zombie-madman who will attack you, tie you up, throw a hood over your head, put you through sacrificial voodoo rituals and force you to dig through road kill -- all just for fun! Right? Fun? Right?

So say the folks at the Great Horror Campout (www.greathorrorcampout.com). It's a 12-hour interactive ultimate frightfest event coming July 11 and 12 to the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

Unlike in real life, you can at least choose your level of distress. You may opt for the mere watching of horror movies, roasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories around a campfire. Ah, so nice. Then there's the HellMaster level. I'm not sure what all it entails, but these are suggested supplies to bring: an old white T-shirt (if you're playing Blood Tag), a snorkel mask, underwater flashlight and "a few changes of underwear."

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If you survive the night, you get a continental breakfast at 7 a.m. Think I'll just have a scone with jam, hold the mayhem, thank you very much.

Tats: Where it's at

Maybe get some ink to commemorate your triumph. You would not be alone. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asked people if they or someone in their households has a tattoo. The number of people responding "yes" has nearly doubled in the past 15 years, from 21 percent in 1999 to 40 percent in 2014. The biggest percentage change was among people ages 35 to 49.

Some of the tattoo work of tattoo artist Jason Weiskop as his shop Lucky Drive Tattoos in San Rafael, Calif. on Aug. 31, 2012. (Courtesy of Jason Weiskop)

Some reports say tattoo art has now grown to a $1.65 billion-a-year industry. Color me impressed.

On the menu: Clay?

Last week, Zoe Kravitz revealed that she'd been "drinking clay" to lose weight for her role in an upcoming movie as a woman battling an eating disorder. Even though she wouldn't recommend the practice and called it "awful," she also said it "cleans out your body and fills you up. I was eating, like, a Mason jar of pureed vegetables a day and running."

Apparently eating clay, also called geophagy, is the latest of the ancient global medicinal practices to get the Hollywood health hype. Actress Shailene Woodley recently revealed that she is a big fan of eating clay. Will Jennifer Aniston be next?

I'm all about getting down to earth, but I'm happy with my scone and jam, hold the mud, thank you very much.